


Felis Onca

by Alley_Walk (AlleyWalk_writes)



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: AU after Alma Karma arc, Dismemberment, Dubious Morality, F/M, Gen, Gore, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I mean... they're animals. So., M/M, Multi, No beta we die like illiterates, Nonbinary Alma Karma, Original Character(s), Other, POV Multiple, Platonic Romance, Polyamory, Violence, Will 'o Wisps, crow shapeshifter!Link, defecting, everyone being gay af, for some reason I thought Tim got killed in this arc, magical healing, none will be shipped with canon characters, sorry??, the killing and eating of dead bodies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21737701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlleyWalk_writes/pseuds/Alley_Walk
Summary: Thanks to the beansprout’s innate stubbornness, Alma Karma lived the day they were resurrected. They were taken into the Order’sperfectly hospitablecustody, and are barely let loose for fear of the Earl’s prying eyes.Meanwhile, the Black Order has heard sketchy rumors of a “healing Oasis” near Naples, Italy. With even the rumors of such a thing a bright spot of hope in this endless war, the Order sends four Exorcists to check it out. But with the Noah aiming for the Oasis and the Order going on a full frontal attack, a simple mission turns into something that might win them the very thing that will help them end this war.
Relationships: Allen Walker & Ciano, Allen Walker & Isoke, Bak Chan/Komui Lee, Howard Link & Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu & Alma Karma & Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu & Lavi & Lenalee Lee & Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu/Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu/Alma Karma/Allen Walker, Lavi/Lenalee Lee, Wisely Kamelot & Tyki Mikk, Wisely Kamelot/Tyki Mikk
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all!
> 
> This is a new fic of mine, which I hope you will all enjoy.
> 
> I just want to say that the OC insert in this fic is by no means a self insert, and is not going to be the main POV for this story, simply one of them. So no worries about her taking over the story, or anything.
> 
> As for the AU components, Allen and Kanda were in a sort-of relationship, which equates to Kanda not hating Allen and actually listening to him, saving Alma and preventing the awakening of the 14th, and allowing Allen to fight him off when he did. Lavi and Bookman also never got captured, mostly as a result of the failed plan to bring out the 14th.
> 
> Everything good? Good.
> 
> Trigger Warnings for blood, violence and dismemberment. 
> 
> Enjoy! ^_^

**night one • up in smoke**

* * *

Allen, Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda all walk into Komui’s office for their briefing on their new mission only to find Komui slumped over asleep on his desk, drooling on a half-finished doodle of a bunny rabbit. Lenalee, incensed, slams the door loudly behind her. Komui twitches, but does not wake. Allen rolls his eyes fondly and walks over to Komui, leaning down to whisper the usual wake up call in his ear. In a stint of mischievousness, however, he whispers, _“Lavi and Lenalee are getting eloped.”_

Komui wakes up like a shot, jolting to his feet while somehow having a giant gun in his hands. Murder is in his eyes as he points it at Lavi, and Lavi yelps and dives behind the couch just as Komui pulls the trigger, firing off a ray of bright blue light that burns a hole right through the back of the couch. Allen dives for Komui and wrestles the gun from his hands, Komui ineffectually slapping at his face as Allen breaks it in half over his knee.

Komui pouts at him and then blinks, seeming to take in the room and the damage he’d done for the first time. Komui coughs into his fist. “Ahem. I’m sorry Lavi, I’ve been a little overworked lately. What… were you all here for again?” He asks, rubbing at his face as he slumps with tiredness.

“The mission briefing.” Kanda says, with his arms crossed over his chest.

Komui nods. “Right, right. Do you mind if I get some coffee first? I’m really not awake enough for this.”

Lavi peeks his face through the smoking hole that had been blasted through the couch. “Anything that means no more flaming deathrays is fine with me.”

After everyone had been seated and Komui had drank nearly half of the coffee pot and was now nearly buzzing with energy, (much to Lenalee’s disapproval), Komui begins.

“There are rumors of a healing Oasis inside a cave near Naples, Italy. These rumors go back several decades with claims of people taking some of the healing water from the Oasis, and there is evidence that seems to support this claim.” Komui passes out four pamphlets and Allen scans it over, frowning at what he sees.

“Miraculous recoveries overnight? Claims of a ‘colossal jaguar guarding the Oasis and causing death and destruction nearby’?” Kanda asks incredulously.

“And that’s where the difficult part comes in,” Komui explains. “The most likely scenario is that the jaguar is an Akuma, either unwilling or unable to get to the Innocence and so is guarding it from both parties.”

Lavi perks up. “‘Both parties’?”

“Well, considering Marian’s tendency to have his fingers in too many pies, it’s impossible to know if he knew about this or not. And considering he’s MIA at the moment, we can’t possibly ask him if he’s having one of his modified Akuma guarding the Oasis or not.” Komui explains.

“Which is why you’re sending four of us,” Lavi realizes, “strength in numbers and all that.”

“That makes sense.” Lenalee says with a nod.

Kanda snorts. “I doubt it’s one of Cross’s if it’s killing people.”

Komui nods. “It’s possible that there are other Akuma in the area, and that the deaths are just collateral for protecting the Oasis. If it’s bloodlust had gotten too high…”

Allen scowls, crossing his arms over his chest. Kanda puts a supporting hand on his knee, squeezing gently. Allen takes a deep breath, and lets it go for now.

“When do we leave?” Allen asks curtly.

“As soon as you can, if possible.” Komui says, looking at Allen apologetically.

Allen nods to him, smiling to show that it wasn’t his fault, and gets to his feet with the others. He takes Kanda’s hand, entwining his fingers with his. “Do you want to go visit Alma?” Allen asks him after the door closes behind them.

Kanda frowns, and then gives a short nod.

Lenalee glances at them and shoots them a mischievous smile. “Have fun!” She chirps, and Lavi laughs, and they both go racing down the hallway to avoid Kanda’s wrath.

* * *

Link meets them outside Komui’s office and immediately starts fussing over Allen like the mother-hen he secretly is. Kanda would be sick to death of it by now if he didn’t know that Allen was a fucking nutcase when it came to his own personal health and that if it wasn’t about food or looking presentable he wouldn’t even bother. Now that Link was less of a watchdog and more Leverrier making himself feel important, Kanda could see that throughout his time with Allen Link had been thoroughly compromised by the beansprout. 

The little shit.

But then, Kanda had stopped hating ( ~~fallen in love with~~ ) the beansprout so damn much, and he had been the person who had convinced him not to kill Alma in the end.

“Are you sleeping enough?” Link asks, a furrow in his brow.

“Yes, Link.” Allen says, amused.

“Here, take these.” Link says, and the aroma of steamed buns fills the air as Link takes out the paper bag from one of his storage seals. “It’s going to be a long journey,” Link says, though he looks amused as he watches Allen’s mouth water.

“Link, I love you, please be my sugar daddy.” Allen says around a mouthful of steamed bun.

Link snorts and shakes his head as they stop outside Alma’s door. “I’ll leave you here for now.” He says, nodding to CROW guarding the door, and Kanda and Allen enter the room.

Alma, who had been lying on their stomach on the bed and reading a book like a listless fuck, immediately perks up at the sight of them both, their devil’s tail waving happily in the air as they leap off of the bed and give Allen a hug, reaching for Kanda and doing the same with Kanda reluctantly returning it.

They talk about random shit for awhile, going over useless gossip before finally getting down to business.

Allen, who has been carding his fingers through Alma’s hair while they lay with their head pillowed on top of his chest, says, “so we’re going on another mission.”

Alma tenses slightly, and they turn blue eyes up to Allen, Kanda on the other side of the bed with one arm splayed over Allen, and asks with a thread of worry in their voice, “you and Kanda, you mean?”

It was true that Allen and Kanda were often sent on missions with Link now that they weren’t bickering 24/7, and in the end made a team to be reckoned with in any fight. 

“No. All four of us.” Kanda says, making Alma deflate further.

Kanda thinks it must be lonely for Alma, locked up like a rabid dog and put under guard at all times. It infuriates Kanda, but he can’t do a damn thing about it. He’d like to think that if he got Alma out of the Order’s clutches they’d be free to go and do whatever they wanted, but Kanda knows that that would lead to them landing right back in the hands of the Earl. The Order is no better, to be honest, especially with their suspicions of the Earl using Alma as his eyes and ears around the Order getting them locked up in the first place.

But at least they’re alive.

That’s fucking something, at least.

“Oh. Okay.” Alma says quietly.

“It shouldn’t be that dangerous,” Allen reassures. “There’s only one Akuma that we know of in the area.”

“Not to mention the ‘magical Oasis’ or whatever the fuck,” Kanda chips in.

Alma looks contemplative, and then they smile. “Well stay safe, you two!”

They say their goodbyes, and then the two Exorcists go off to start making preparations.

* * *

Isoke pounces, pinning her prey against the grass. They wriggle in her grasp and she strikes as quick as a snake, biting down on her prey, only to spit them out a moment later, thoroughly disgusted. The Will ‘o Wisp shakes themselves off, pushing off with their glowing tendrils to float up into the air, cursing at her in their own musical language.

Isoke flicks her tail irritably. “Oh, please. You should just be glad that you don’t have any meat on you.” She says contemptuously. 

The Will ‘o Wisp puffs up with indignation, slapping her across the snout with a glowing tendril of light. Before she can get properly angry, however, they settle on her head for the briefest of moments, a spot of warmth and forgiveness on her brow, before they float up and away.

Isoke lets out a puff of breath, bored once again. To a being unused to her surroundings, she supposed they would not be as bored as she. Her surroundings were, in fact, quite fantastical.

The cave is vast and endless around her, the ceiling reaching far above even her rather large head with runes and depictions of the sun and moon carved into the rock, circular openings in the ceiling letting the light of the moon shine down from above. But it is not so much a cave as an _idea_ of a cave, the boundless space around her never appearing to have any walls that she could find other than the entrance to the cave itself.

Multitudes of fantastical biomes live inside this cave, but Isoke doesn’t care to venture from her main objective for long. Surrounding her as of now is a grove of humongous trees with large, twisting branches blooming glowing luminescent vines that twist and hang down to the forest floor. The Will ‘o Wisps live here in their own little clan. Isoke doesn’t particularly care, but the branches are big enough for her to climb, and watching the comings and goings of the Will ‘o Wisps’ lives is at least something to do.

Not to mention that hunting them can be particularly enjoyable. 

Past the forest was a rocky streambed, where small fish darted in the cool clear depths of the water, teasing Isoke, who has never had an adept paw for catching them, much to her frustration. The water is refreshing, at least, and beside the streambed is Isoke’s nest. She’d made it out of moss and featherdown, until she was satisfied that is was as soft as it was going to be. 

Small glowing green mushrooms begin to dot the grass, as the grass turns to large moss covered rocks underneath her paws. The mushrooms grow substantially larger, some taller than Isoke herself, who is quite big compared to most jaguars. The mushrooms form an alcove with a waterfall flowing through the center, directly into an otherwise calm pool of water. The water seems to glitter with a soft green light, where before it had practically glowed. 

Before Isoke came, that is. 

(And how she wishes she hadn’t).

But she has a task, and she must fulfil it. Protecting the waters for human hands who would exploit them has been her purpose ever since she became more than what she had been as a cub.

( ~~As a kit~~ ).

Her ears prick as she picks up the sound of noise near the entrance of the cave. Pawsteps. No. _Footsteps._

Humans.

The entrance is right behind the mushrooms, the path leading towards the trees, so Isoke slinks down to her haunches, watching them. There are four humans, three males and one female. The female has dark fur on her head that goes down to her shoulders, and eyes the color of geraniums. One of the males has spiky fur on his head the color of poppies and an eye the color of summer leaves. Another male has a long dark furred tail attached to his head, which confuses Isoke, but then she’s never cared to understand humans. The Tailed One has eyes the color or anemone flowers and a bladed human weapon at his hip. The last has neck length fur that’s as white as the clouds and eyes the color of periwinkles, with a strange scar on his face and a crow perched on his shoulder.

“It’s beautiful,” Geranium Eyes whispers in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, but where are the walls?” Poppy Fur asks, quite logically in Isoke’s opinion.

“I don’t know, but…” Clouded Periwinkle trails off. “Does this place feel strange to you?”

“In what way?” Poppy Fur asks.

Isoke angles herself sideways and further towards the Oasis, letting the mushrooms shield her as the humans walk past them down the path, towards the forest. She crouches down on her haunches. She has to do this just right. She will allow no failures on her part.

“Like Innocence,” The Tailed One says.

As they enter the forest, looking around themselves with something like awe, all except The Tailed One that is who seems remarkably unimpressed, Isoke sneaks up behind them, her belly low to the ground. “And just what would you _humans_ be doing in my den?” Isoke purrs, her tone sharp and deadly.

They all spin around to look up at her in horror, and then The Tailed One is drawing his weapon, Geranium Eyes doing the same as boots materialize on her calves. Poppy Fur glances at Clouded Periwinkle, however, and his eyes widen, his paw flying to his scarred eye. “Kanda, Lenalee, wait-!”

Pain scorches deep into Isoke’s breast, her head jerking as a powerful kick sends agony throughout her face. Her pain dulls with her rage, and Isoke screams out her fury as the forest comes to life around her.

* * *

Lavi is a simple guy with a perfectly overcomplicated life. He’s a Bookman. He’s meant to record things, and stay impartial, while also trying not to fall in love with Lenalee and the other people of the Black Order any more than he already has.

Alright, so maybe he isn’t so simple a guy as he likes to think.

The point is that magical forests coming to life around him were not _in any way_ logical, and he had a perfect right to be freaking out about it. Lavi’s brain works on logic; logic makes sense, logic never fails him. So why is it that the glowing magical vines are grabbing him like he was the world’s best buffet, wrapping themselves around him and attempting to squeeze him like a glow in the dark boa constrictor? Luckily Lavi’s hammer is in hand, and he quickly stamps a fire seal into the ground, the fire snake burning the vines away as well as blistering some of Lavi’s skin in the process.

Oh well. Needs must.

Kanda and Lenalee seem to be handling the colossal black jaguar with little success, Kanda forced to take the brunt of most of her attacks as the only one with spectacular super healing. Allen is being harrassed by those weird floating tentacle things, their multicolored lights glowing as they drift around him, his legs bound by the roots of a tree. Lavi strides over. As much as he wants to help Lenalee and Kanda right now, he won’t be much use without backup. 

When he gets closer, ducking and dodging as he goes, he realizes that not only is Allen not being attacked, he seems to be talking to the wisps of light. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand you…”

The wisp he had been talking to, a glowing teal one that floats in front of him, flickers it’s light twice, and then three times, a bell-like chime emanating from it, the sound oddly pleading. The sound is echoed by all of the other wisps gathered around him, and Allen frowns, Link cocking his head from his place perched on Allen’s shoulder. “You want me to do something?” 

The teal wisp peals another bell, and this one is deeper, more ominous, and oddly protective. Allen nods, as if this explains everything. “I’ll do what I can.” He promises, and the wisps disperse, hovering above, watching, waiting. The roots wrapped around Allen’s legs untangle, much to Lavi’s relief.

Lavi finally approaches, asking, “hey Al, what was that all about?”

Allen scratches at his cheek nervously. “I was going to tell Kanda and Lenalee to stop fighting, but then those wisps cornered me.”

“Because of your eye?” Lavi asks.

“Yes,” Allen says, turning to run in the direction of Kanda and Lenalee’s fight with the giant jaguar. Link wings himself into the air, flying ahead. “I don’t think that she’s an Akuma. I don’t know what else she could be but…”

Lavi pants, his lungs burning in his chest as the cogs begin to whirl inside his head. If the jaguar wasn’t an Akuma, then the only other explanation was… 

“Innocence.”

* * *

Several things happened in quick succession upon the two’s arrival to the fight.

It was mostly Allen’s fault, to be honest.

“You guys, stop, she’s not an Akuma!” Allen yells.

Lenalee pauses in midair, Kanda taking a step back. Allen stops in front of the jaguar, looking up at her and her miraide of wounds. “Are you-?” He screams suddenly as pain rips through his right shoulder, tearing flesh and breaking bone as a horrible feeling of separation comes over him. His right arm is hanging limply from in between the jaguar’s jaws, bitten off at the shoulder. There’s a meaty chewing sound as she chews and swallows, licking her lips of his blood. 

And Allen finds that he’s on the ground, his ears ringing as blood pours down his side. Kanda is holding him, staunching the bleeding with his Exorcist’s coat, and Allen wants to laugh at the irony. Lavi and Lenalee stand in front of him, fierce and deadly. 

Allen needs to stop this.

He needs to… 

“Oh.” He says, surprised. The wisps have landed on him, resting their soft weight on his head and shoulders, their lights glowing softly. Ciano, the teal wisp resting on his left shoulder, rings an admonishment. 

The black jaguar’s green eyes sharpen with mistrust, but her ears flatten, and then she picks Allen up by the back of his uniform, carrying him with great bounds across the forest until they stop at a large pool of water. Allen can hear his friend’s alarmed yells as they try to catch up, but Allen is more concerned with the pool of water in front of him. His head is swimming from the blood loss, and as she sets him down he nearly faceplants into it. The female jaguar huffs discontentedly. “Drink. You will feel better afterwards.”

Allen feels too tired to question the big cat’s words. Everything is starting to blur together around him, so he drinks. It tastes good. Better than good. It tastes like the best thing he’s ever tasted, even better than mitarashi dango. Soothing warmth is running through his veins, and he can feel something growing, stretching, but oddly it doesn’t hurt. He’s pulled back by the scruff of his uniform when the growing is done, and Allen comes back to himself to look down at his new arm.

It looks as good as new. Better than new, even. All of the old breaks that hadn’t been set properly when he was younger have been realigned, and the scars that were once there are now gone.

The black jaguar sets him a few yards away from the pool, sitting with her head down a bit between him and it. Allen sits cross legged where she left him, and says, “Thank you. I know you didn’t have to do that.”

The jaguar’s tail flicks irritably. “You should thank the Will ‘o Wisps, not me. I would much rather have eaten you.” 

There’s a teasing ring of a bell nearby, and Allen looks back to see Ciano, its tendrils swelling through the air before billowing outwards, propelling it forwards while it leads Kanda, Lavi and Lenalee to them. Link lands with a flap of his wings on Allen’s knee, looking him over with worried brown eyes.

“You okay, ‘sprout?” Lavi asks, falling to his knees next to him while Kanda eyes the jaguar suspiciously. Lavi’s eyes widen. “Woah. Your arm…” Lavi reaches out to touch it but Allen slaps his hand away, irritated.

Lavi grins. “The science guys are gonna run _soo_ many tests on you when we get back.”

Allen groans. He was already dreading it.

Lenalee is standing around, not sure what to say, and Kanda is still suspicious of the black jaguar, so Allen decides to make introductions. “What’s your name? My name’s Allen, and this is Lenalee, Lavi, Kanda and Link.”

The jaguar is quiet for a second. Then she says, “Isoke.” She looks up at them, and Allen suddenly notices the Innocence green of her eyes, the darker green rosettes on her shoulders and hind. “I think you should go.”

“But-”

 _“Leave!”_ She screams, the ground shaking underneath their feet.

They make a run for it. Nothing attacks them on their way out, but Allen has a sense, a feeling, that this is far from over.

* * *

Tyki, Wisely and Lulubell are sitting across from the Earl in the sitting area, Wisely reading another one of his psychology books and Lulubell curled up as a cat beside her master, Tyki enjoying the delightfully crumbly croissants on his plate. Adam looks up from his horrendously over sugared cup of tea with triumph on his face.

“Pack your bags, Tyki, Wisely.”

Tyki looks up, his mouth full of croissant. “Mmmf?”

Wisely raises his eyebrow. “On rumor alone?”

Adam smiles widely, teeth glinting in the light of the chandeliers overhead. “Oh, my children, if this is what I think it is, then we may have just found our key to winning this war.”

Tyki stands, a tophat appearing in his hand which he doffs to the Earl. “We are at your service, my Lord.”

Wisely sighs. “I guess.”

Adam smiles widely. “Good. Then let’s get to work.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four Exorcists, a certain CROW, and one Akuma go rogue.
> 
> Isoke regrets all of her life choices.
> 
> And Tyki and Wisely come into the spotlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all!
> 
> Got a new chapter for you guys that I hope you all will enjoy!
> 
> Not any Trigger Warnings that I can think of at the moment, but tell me if I missed something!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Edit: I'm not sure why, but I started this fic with the thinking that Timcanpy had been killed by Apocryphos, even though those events hadn't come to pass yet. DX So, just assume that event happened earlier on in the story, because in this AU Allen is currently grieving for Timcanpy, and there's really no way to fit him in at this point.

**night two • fanning the flames**

* * *

The injuries sustained in the fight with Isoke by the four Exorcists were as follows:

Lenalee has two cracked ribs as well as scratches up and down her legs and arms. Kanda has a deep claw mark running from chest to stomach that probably would have killed him in most circumstances. Lavi has superficial burns, and Allen, somehow, came out of it with no injuries at all.

No lasting ones, at least.

So with Lenalee and Kanda stuck in the hospital wing, it’s up to Allen and Lavi to debrief Komui on their mission. Allen tells him most of it with Lavi interjecting things he missed, and after they’re done Komui stares at them, gobsmacked.

“It  _ regrew your arm?” _

“Yes,” Allen says, clearing his throat uncomfortably.

“Did that hurt?” Link asks, standing to the side and a little behind Allen from where he and Lavi are sitting on the (newly repaired) couch.

“Not at all,” Allen says. “Are you okay now, Link?” He asks, changing the subject.

“I believe so,” Link affirms. “I think that perhaps the jaguar’s own shapeshifting abilities may have been what disrupted my own.”

“Shapeshifting? Like Lust?” Lavi asks.

“Not something nearly as large on the scope of things as that. Like me, perhaps.” Link answers with a contemplative frown.

Komui is wearing a thoughtful look of his own, his face slightly troubled. “Don’t tell anyone about this just yet. If this gets out-”

“If  _ what _ gets out, exactly?” A new voice enters the room, and they all turn to see Malcolm C. Leverrier standing with the door open, a bunch of uniformed CROW behind him. Link instantly looks like he’s committed a murder right a Leverrier’s feet, and Leverrier gives a kind smile laced with poison. “Why don’t you let me in on your  _ little conversation _ , hmm?”

* * *

The Order is in chaos. 

Everyone has heard by now through the rumor mill that there is indeed a magical, (or perhaps Innocence, he should say) healing Oasis, and Finders and Exorcists alike are eager to find it. The Oasis is a bright spot of hope in this endless war, a way that they could, perhaps, finally win it.

The taskforce being sent out to secure the Oasis is really quite genius. They have Miranda, Timothy, and Marie to take on Isoke, as she had been hostile from the start, and, in Leverrier’s words, “you can’t reason with animals.” Then there was Allen and Lavi’s group, where Allen and Lavi are tasked to lead a group of Finders to the Oasis to start taking as much of the water as they can carry.

It was a good plan. A smart plan. Or it would be, if Allen was planning on going through with it.

Allen has always had a way with animals. Even Will ‘o Wisps, apparently. That’s why he knew, from Isoke’s bowed head and the way her ears had been flattened, how she had hardly looked at him throughout their entire conversation, meant she had felt guilty for what she had done.

And she had helped him. Let him use what was a very precious resource, something that could help win a war.

But Allen isn’t after the Oasis. It was Isoke’s, and she should get to choose how it was used. Not the Order, and certainly not him.

He had to leave. He had to warn her.

Allen is in the middle of packing when Kanda barges into his room, wearing civilian clothes with a bag slung over his shoulder. Allen looks at him, surprised. “Kanda? What are you doing here?”

Kanda pulls him forward and kisses him softly on the forehead. “You’re so predictable it’s not even funny. Hurry up, the others are waiting.” Kanda lets him go and heads out the door, and Allen stares after him for a moment, before shaking his head and finishing up his packing, adding some makeup, some hair dye, and a first aid kit just in case. 

As he walks out of the hallway and into the entreehall leading to an Ark gate, Allen is surprised to see five people waiting for him, not the three he had expected. Link is a welcome and pleasant surprise, and the even greater surprise is the person bundled up in a hoodie and sweatpants too large for them that nonetheless can’t hide the glowing yellow halo hovering over their head. Alma peeks out from under the hoodie and smiles at Allen, and Allen hurries over, giving them a quick hug which they gladly return, resting their head on his shoulder.

Allen steps back and looks at his friends seriously. “You don’t have to come with me, you know.”

Lenalee huffs. “Then how are we supposed to explain the two CROW guards that Link and Lavi left bound and unconscious in a broom closet?” Allen looks to Link, who appears sheepish. Lavi just grins at him however and shoots him a thumbs up.

Allen opens his mouth. Closes it. He really doesn’t have an answer other than ‘blatant denial.’

“Anyway, Lavi thinks that so long as we use a pre-existing door that our departure should go unnoticed for a while.” Lenalee says in an undertone, still a bit irritated.

Allen nods sheepishly. “Alright, let’s go.”

They go through the Ark gate and enter the Ark proper, the white buildings and bright blue sky soothing something deep in Allen’s chest. He can almost hear the 14th’s melody playing in the back of his mind, and his hands itch with the phantom feeling of a piano underneath his fingertips. It soothes him even as it puts him on edge, and he’s not sure what to think, how to feel.

The ghost of the 14th haunts him even now.

Alma glances over at him with concern on their face, their purple tail waving lazily in the air behind them. They give him a hesitant smile and take his hand, Allen smiling and tracing the carapace-like purple of their palm with his thumb. Alma’s pointed ears flicker, and then they smile back. 

They reach the door marked ‘Italy’ and open it, walking through and into the city nightlife.

As horse drawn carriages clop past on the city streets and civilians crowd into the inns hoping for food or a drink and visitors a place to sleep, shady business deals being played out in the back alleys of the red light district, where men and women alike go to have a good time. The streets smell faintly of horse manure, the smell of food wafting from the doors of the inns making Allen both hungry and mildly disgusted at the same time. But mostly hungry. The cold winter air makes Allen huddle further down into his coat, though Alma doesn’t seem particularly bothered.

But then, Alma didn’t really need to eat so long as they had enough rabbits to kill. How many rabbits Allen didn’t know, and when he had asked Komui he had made a face and said they would all probably be eating rabbit stew for weeks. For the first time, Allen wonders if Alma being around so many humans is going to be a Problem. He supposes that they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it.

Allen feels a squirming inside his shirt and so is unsurprised when Ciano worms their way out of his collar and slithers in the air next to his head, their teal glow significantly dimmed. Allen smiles and pets their eyeless snake-like head, running his fingers through their long wispy tendrils snaking through the air. Ciano gives him a smile full of serrated teeth, their glow brightening.

“You brought that thing with you?” Kanda asks, incredulous.

“Their name is Ciano.” Allen corrects. “And they didn’t seem to want to leave, so, well.” Allen shrugs, a bit helplessly, as Ciano lands on his shoulder, wrapping their tendrils around his neck as they cock their head at Kanda.

“Ciano… “cyan”, seriously?” Lavi asks.

Ciano puffs up like an offended cat. They’re obviously very fond of their new name.

“I think it’s a great name,” Alma says, and Ciano preens, throwing Lavi a triumphant look.

“Names aside, I think we should get moving.” Lenalee says, and Ciano perks up, their light flickering twice before a bell chimes urgently.

“Moving?” Allen asks with uncertainty. He’s starting to pick up some of the language, but it’s ten times harder because it’s not a spoken one. The bell chimes, louder and more urgent, and Allen nods. “We’ll get there as fast as we can.”

For some reason Ciano still doesn’t look satisfied.

* * *

Isoke lurks in the bushes near a small human dwelling in the depths of a nearby city. She had abandoned the wilderness where her den lay, because she knew that now that the humans had found the Oasis, found her, they would come back for it and everything it stood for. (She had not left out of any sense of guilt. That would be pointless and illogical).

But the Oasis is not stuck in stasis, bound to one spot like a normal cave would be. It is bound to her, heart and soul, and follows wherever she may roam. So Isoke had headed for the nearest city, spooking quite a few humans as well as a few horses in her wake upon entering the city. The looks of bafflement and horror on their faces had been quite annoying, and she had considered killing them to get them out of her way before she decided that leaving a mess behind was no way to start a stealth mission. 

She entered a distinctly dirty alleyway, her form twisting and flowing like water as the world grew steadily larger around her. She finally landed on all four paws and walked out of the empty alleyway the size of a mere house cat. 

She had done some recon after that, and found a female human who was just a bit too weak to her cubs’ begging and who were due to go on a trip back to some place called Arizona. And one afternoon when the cubs are playing in the yard, Isoke makes her move. This is so beyond her dignity. But a certain amount of stealth is needed for this to pan out.

She trots up to the cub currently  _ not _ eating the detritus that comes out of her sinuses, looking up at her with wide green eyes and tilting her head cutely. “Mrrow?” And just like that she’s won her over. It’s rather easy to get the other cub involved after this, and she restrains herself even with small human paws touching her fur and tugging at her ears.

She’s already starting to regret this course of action.

Then the door opens to the human dwelling, and the female human steps out. Under a chorus of begging from the cubs the lone female gives in with a shake of her head. But Isoke is not out of hot water yet. In fact, she’s dumped directly into some. They were giving her a bath.  _ Humans _ . Oh, the ignominy of it all. She endures this in silence, directing a baleful glare up at the human all the while.

The next few days pass in a blur of human activity. The humans get her a dark green collar that sits rather uncomfortably around her neck for a few days until she gets used to it. They name her Shadow, and she decides that she can tolerate the name so long as they keep giving her catnip. When the female human pours the kibble into her bowl on the first night, Isoke stares at it, gives the human a baleful look, and then steals her dinner while she’s not looking. This evolves into a compromise. Or rather, Isoke leaves the human dwelling at night to go hunt down a meal, leaving the female human quite perplexed as to how her bowl is still full in the morning.

The humans acquire a feather on a stick, which Isoke absolutely  _ does not _ spend a good amount of time chasing. (The feather is oddly mesmerizing). Her first time unwillingly curled up on the human female’s lap the human had begun stroking her fur with her furless paws, and Isoke’s fur had stood on end as she restrained a hiss, before settling. (The sensation felt oddly soothing). 

And now that they were finally going on the trip, the female human had shoved her into a tiny cage fleeced only with a soft human-smelling fur. Or what counted as fur for humans, anyway. The way their fur could change colors every day frankly baffled Isoke. She was so angry at the pure humiliation of it all that Isoke thought about shapeshifting back into her  _ true _ form then and there. But that would break her cover, so she settled down discontentedly,  _ mrrowl _ ing all the while.

They got onto a human vehicle drawn by horses, the clop-clop of the horse’s hooves drawing Isoke into a deep sleep. The trip was annoyingly long, and included a boat ride that Isoke did  _ not _ enjoy. Halfway through she decided to screw stealth, she was sick of this and just wanted to settle back into her den. So it was that while on a train Isoke broke out of her cage and jumped out the window, transforming mid-leap to land on all four paws in her jaguar form.

Shaking off the snapped collar, Isoke doesn’t look back as she makes her way towards the forest, where she can sense her den lay.

* * *

Tyki looks down contemplatively at the man he had just murdered, his prone body lying on the ground with his heart gripped in Tyki’s fist. Wisely is looking at him long-sufferingly, but Tyki ignores him, opening his hand and calling up his Tease to devour the heart in his open palm. They retreat back beneath his skin, and Tyki takes off his ruined and bloodstained glove, replacing it with a fresh one with just a thought.

“This is going to lead back to us, you know.” Wisely says quietly.

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t have killed him?” Tyki asks with a raised eyebrow.

Wisely scoffs. “Just because he was Finder doesn’t mean I couldn’t have erased his memory.”

“Oh.” That honestly hadn’t occurred to Tyki.

“Idiot,” Wisely says fondly, pressing a hand against his chest.

Tyki freezes, his senses prickling. “You didn’t happen to hear that, did you?” Wisely frowns, looking uneasy, before his three red eyes move to focus on something hidden in the darkness.

“Hello there,” Wisely says with a smile, forcing himself to relax. Tyki follows suit, despite the sensation that he really shouldn’t.

There’s movement in the darkness of the alleyway, and then a house cat with green eyes trots out of the shadows. Despite the cat’s diminutive size Tyki can’t help but get the sensation of a very large predator approaching. And then the cat’s form dissolves, ebbing and flowing like water as it curves up and above them, multiplying in size. Muscle and bone reform, fur surging over its body like a wave until a black jaguar with green eyes and dark green rosettes stands before them, her foreleg about as long as Tyki is tall.

She tilts her head at them, licks her lips, and asks, “Are you going to eat that?”

Tyki looks around for any food that would hopefully not be them, before realizing she means the dead body.

Tyki smiles and steps away, Wisely following. “Feel free.” He invites.

And as the colossal jaguar drags the Finder’s body away and begins to eat, Tyki feels pleased with their progress. Wisely rolls his eyes at him, and Tyki smirks, taking his hand and twining his fingers with his. 

Tyki considers this first meeting to be a success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Team Allen. They're going to have to play a wild game of catch-up in order to find Isoke.
> 
> Tyki and Wisely have no idea what they've just gotten themselves into...
> 
> Also the Platonic Romance Tyki/Wisely ship just sort of snuck up on me. I do ship them, but I wasn't planning on having it in the story. Please don't lynch me?
> 
> Comments?
> 
> Kudos?
> 
> See y'all next chap!

**Author's Note:**

> Looks like the Noah are up to some Shenanigans™.
> 
> Also, the Earl got that info from looking through Alma's eyes, in case that wasn't clear.
> 
> And I know the Earl isn't really IC, but tbh I much prefer a cunning!Earl to a 'crazy' Earl. It feels a lot of the time while I'm reading the manga that Hoshino is excusing Adam's actions because he's mentally ill. But that's not right. Adam is _still responsible_ for his actions, even if he is mentally ill, which is why I don't really like the whole mentally ill thing hanging around him.
> 
> In this AU, he's severely depressed but hiding it well under layers of denial, which will make him act out under certain circumstances, but it's not nearly as bad as in the manga. 
> 
> Also, Ciano = "cyan" in Italian
> 
> The name "Isoke" is African and means "wonderful gift" which I thought was fitting for the Oasis, if not for Isoke. XD
> 
> I have no regrets.
> 
> See y'all next chap!


End file.
